Empty
by Hkokuryuha
Summary: Goku knew he couldn't beat the Saiyans if they came to Earth. He told Gohan that he was sorry but he had to make a deal with the Saiyans. He would have to give them what they wanted so he told Gohan to be a good boy and to do what he was told.


**Empty**

This story starts right before Vegeta and Nappa come to earth.

Tired after training all day with Piccolo, Gohan laid down on a grassy hill to watch the night sky. The stars were bright that night. There was nothing but the stars against the bluish-black night sky and the young demi-saiyan was thankful for that. Between training and studying there was hardly any time for sky watching so when he got the chance he never passed it up. Sighing Gohan stood up and made his way back to camp.

Their camp was hidden deep within the forest. Even after all the time they had spent in these woods, Gohan had never seen another person besides Piccolo. When he finally made it through the woods to their campsite for the evening Gohan just lie down and fell asleep, to tired to do much else except say good night to his sensei, Piccolo.

As expected the next morning held an early training session that lasted until late at night. Since Gohan still had studying to do his sensei decided to stay up meditating.

"Gohan I think that you should forget about your study's for now. The Saiyans are going to be here soon and you need to be focused." Piccolo said.

"Ummm... Okay...I guess, it couldn't hurt...I mean...I did finish all the work my mom gave me already. Uh..hmm...Mister Piccolo, what are the Saiyans like, are they really strong?"

"Yeah kid, they are. That's why we're training, to get you strong enough to fight back." Came Piccolo's reply.

With that simple reply Gohan smiled and nodded. Hearing his sensei speak about the upcoming battle calmly was reassuring to the demi-saiyan. Lying down, Gohan was quickly asleep. Surprised Piccolo watched as the young demi-saiyan drifted into a deep sleep. It always amazed the namekian how easily Gohan trusted him, him the man who had killed his father and then kidnapped the boy. Even with that kind of a first impression, the boy had never once hesitated in trusting Piccolo, which utterly amazed the older man.

Sunlight trickling through the forest woke Gohan up the next morning. Stretching as he sat up Gohan was not surprised to see his mentor already awake. Sometimes it seemed to Gohan that the namekian never slept. After stretching properly Gohan followed Piccolo out to a field with boulders scattered around.

"Today we are going to practice hiding your ki. I want you to close your eyes, count to ten, and then try to sense where I am. Do you understand?" Piccolo asked.

"You mean like Hide and Seek?" Gohan asked confused. "How is playing a game going to help when the Saiyans come? Do they like to play games?"

Piccolo was caught completely off guard by the question, he had never met anyone so naive before, and was a little frustrated with it.

"No. The Saiyans will not be coming to play games with you. This exercise will help you learn to hide your ki so they cannot sense you." Even though he was frustrated Piccolo knew better than to yell at the boy, no matter how much he felt like it, because the last time he did the demi-saiyan had started to cry and that was even worse than his silly questions.

Training continued like that for a while until Piccolo noticed that Gohan had finally matured enough to where he wasn't so much of a pest. If he thought about it for a while Piccolo realized that he had grown to like the young demi-saiyan. The boy never did stop asking questions though; he always had one more to ask. Eventually the namekian got over the questions; he even answered a few of them, if they were relevant.

"Mister Piccolo, Mister Piccolo! Guess what. I found something really cool. I think that it will help with our training." Gohan yelled. He was running down a hill towards his sensei with a huge grin on his face.

"What is it Gohan is something wrong?" Piccolo asked. He had been meditating under a tree while Gohan had gone for a walk during a break in their training.

"Nothing is wrong. Don't worry. But I found something really neat. Do you want to see? I've been working on it for a very long time. Since you told me how to use ki. I finally finished." Gohan replied as he came to a stop before Piccolo.

"Working on what? What are you talking about Gohan? The Saiyans will be here soon, within a couple of days. I don't think there's much more you could do. We should stick to our regular training sessions." Said Piccolo.

Gohan's grin got even bigger as he started walking in a circle and creating a barrier while he said, "I know there's only a couple of days left that's why I'm so happy I got it done in time. It's a new way of manipulating my ki. It's kind of hard to maintain but it's worth it. Just step through here and we can keep training for an extra year at least."

Piccolo looked skeptical at first but after observing Gohan during their training sessions he had learned that the boy was very creative with his ki and could probably come up with something like that. It reminded him of the room of Time and Space. He looked at Gohan and decided to give it a try. As he stepped through he noticed a distortion in the air. It seemed like he slowed down and sped up at the same time. The temperature also seemed to change it got hot and cold at the same time; it was weird and painful. But it only lasted for moment and the he was through the barrier. Gohan was right behind him and then the portal was closed.

Looking around in amazement at the place they were now in. It looked exactly like where they had been except that everything was in shades of gray, like color didn't exist. "What is this place?" Piccolo asked in astonishment.

Gohan turned and smiled at him, "It's the dimension I created. When I was trying to make this place I found quite a few different dimensions but they were all occupied so I decided to make my own. Time passes differently here so we can train longer. The Saiyans will be here in a few days maybe even tomorrow. If they do get here tomorrow we will still have a little over a year to train. This is going to be my secret place so don't tell anyone 'kay."

And train they did, they fought long and hard together and then relaxed together. They ended up getting along quite well. For them it felt like one year had passed but really it had only been a day. Training had become more intense with Gohan being able to withstand more. Gohan kept finding new ways to manipulate his ki and so the environment kept changing, getting harsher and more difficult for them to survive in. Piccolo noticed this and didn't like it. He kept trying to get Gohan to change it back but the boy didn't seem to notice anything was wrong.

It was in the afternoon during a training session when they felt it. There was a surge of energy and then a blankness that felt like a hole. They both froze and strained their senses in the direction of the emptiness. Gohan realized that it wasn't empty there were people still there, two of them, but they felt wrong. It took a moment for him to realize it but Gohan knew who they were, they felt similar to his Uncle Raditz but more powerful.

"The Saiyans." Gohan whispered the words, but Piccolo heard anyway.

_Can he sense them from all the way in here? All I sensed was an energy source rising rapidly then disappear... huh! I guess it makes sense he always did seem a bit sensitive towards that kind of thing._

Gohan looked at Piccolo and saw that his mentor was ready to go. He started to open the portal again and felt the pain take him. Whenever he was in his dimension the pain was always there but it hurt the most when he opened and closed the portal. The portal was bright and blue and so full of warmth it surprised the two fighters. The differences between the two worlds was staggering. The one they were leaving was cold and lifeless and full of emptiness. It was a sad, jaded place. A place created from the heart of a six-year-old demi-saiyan. But the world they were entering was warm and bright and full of energy. It was a place where he had to hide his secrets.

The Saiyans had finally arrived on Earth. They had destroyed an entire city and had everyone terrified. The Z-senshi had found them and started the fight to save the Earth. After the several months of intense training the Z-senshi endured, they felt that they could hold out until Goku arrived. Unfortunately for Earth's warriors the Saiyans were a lot stronger than they had thought. Just one of them was all it took to beat the Z-senshi. By the time Gohan and Piccolo arrived Earth's warriors were almost all defeated. Gohan and Piccolo put up a good fight but they were really no match for the two Saiyans. No matter what they did, the Earth's warriors were just no match for a pair of Saiyans that had spent their lives taking over planets and enslaving the universe.

Goku watched as his friends fought and were beaten one by one. He knew that they were waiting for him to show up and save them but he knew the truth. There was no way that he could beat both of the Saiyans without the Earth being destroyed. So he did the only thing that he could, he made a deal with the devil. He knew that the Saiyans were working for someone that brokered planets and that this person had to be looking for good fighters for his army. He told their leader, a man named Freiza, that he was an accomplished fighter and that he would willingly join them if they would leave Earth alone. At first Freiza didn't think it was worth it but after giving an example of his power it seemed okay. Freiza's reply came as a surprise to Goku though, he said that the only way that he would leave Earth alone was if he could have Goku's son. At first Goku was against the idea but when he considered his options he really didn't see any other choice. He told Gohan what was going to happen during the fight with the Saiyans. He thought that he should tell his son the truth and so told him that he was being traded for the safety of the Earth. Goku promised that he would try to free him later but that for now he had to be a good boy and listen to his father. He said that the Saiyans would win the fight and that after that he was to go with them and that he was to listen to them like a good boy would and do whatever they said. He asked Gohan to get strong so that one day he could be free again.

Of course Gohan would do as his father asked like any well behaved six year old would but that didn't mean he would go without a fight. He had asked Piccolo to train him but that hadn't been enough and he knew it so he tried to give them more time by going to his secret place but even that wasn't enough. He would have to go with the Saiyans now and he really wanted to say goodbye to Piccolo only he was unconscious. He said goodbye anyway hoping that Piccolo would understand and then he climbed in the little space pod with the shorter Saiyan and fell asleep shortly after the door closed.

TBC…well what do you think? Should I continue? Please review!


End file.
